Delran To Host Farmers Market

Residents won’t have to leave the town limits for farm produce anymore.

To help reach certification status with Sustainable Jersey, the municipality will host a farmers market every Tuesday in the parking lot of the municipal building on Chester Avenue beginning June 18.

The market will have space for about 14 vendors and hopes for a mix of fresh produce, prepared goods and fresh-cut flowers, Township Councilwoman Lona Pangia said.

The market will help Delran near certification status with Sustainable Jersey, a process that Pangia estimates is 60 percent to 75 percent of the way there.

Communities with Sustainable Jersey certification are given a priority status for state grant money, including New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection forestry grants, Board of Public Utilities local government energy audit grants, and $600,000 in grants from Sustainable Jersey this year, said Randall Solomon, co-director of Sustainable Jersey.

In addition to the state grants, there are federal grants that take into account the certification.

“There is a strong preference given to municipalities that are certified,” Solomon said.

There are about 100 actions a town can take to become certified. A municipality needs 150 points for certification. A farmers market is worth 10 to 20 points.

So far, 113 of the state’s 566 municipalities have the certification, including Bordentown City, Burlington Township and Mount Holly in Burlington County.

But a green certification isn’t the only reason for the farmers market.

“It’s about building a community,” said Councilman Mike Schwartz, who said the farmers market is the most recent project on a long list spearheaded by Pangia that includes a Red Cross blood drive, mammogram mobile, and free eye care event.

Schwartz, who is blind, normally has his fresh produce delivered. Now, he said, he and his wife can walk to the market on Tuesdays and pick it up themselves.

The market will run through the end of August.

An informational meeting for farm vendors will be held at the municipal building this Tuesday at 6 p.m.